wrbones
04-13-03, 09:42 AM
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/04/13/national1023EDT0496.DTL
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Rumsfeld says some Iraqi leaders have fled to Iraq
ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer Sunday, April 13, 2003
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(04-13) 07:23 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday "there's no question" that some senior Iraqi leaders have fled to Syria.
Some have remained in Syria, while others have moved on to different countries, Rumsfeld said. He declined to identify the Iraqis or the other countries, or if the United States was prepared to take any punitive action against Syria.
Rumsfeld also said that Syrians accounted for the largest share of foreign fighters that U.S. troops have faced in Baghdad over the past 24 hours.
Syria's deputy ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, who followed Rumsfeld on NBC's "Meet the Press," denied that his country was harboring escaped Iraqis. He said it was the responsibility of U.S. troops to monitor Iraq's western border with Syria.
Rumsfeld said he did not have solid evidence about the fate of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but "that regime is history forever... He either is dead or he is going to be caught; we'll find him, the world will find him."
On Saturday, Vice Adm. Timothy Keating, the commander of all naval forces in the war, said two or three of the five U.S. aircraft carriers launching planes on missions over Iraq may head home soon. Each carrier has about 80 planes aboard, including about 50 strike aircraft.
While the air campaign is far from over, its focus has shifted away from heavy bombing toward protective air cover for ground troops around Baghdad and in northern Iraq.
Surveillance and reconnaissance missions by U-2 spy planes, unmanned Predator drones and other aircraft are continuing apace, and aerial refueling and cargo planes are still very busy.
Keating said the USS Kitty Hawk, which has operated in the Persian Gulf since February, probably would be the first to leave. Its home port is Yokosuka, Japan.
The USS Constellation, also in the Gulf and on its final active deployment, probably would go next, he said.
Keating said orders to send carriers and other forces home would have to come from Gen. Tommy Franks, the war's overall commander, and that no such orders have been received.
The Air Force already has sent four B-2 stealth bombers back home to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., officials said. They were flying missions over Iraq from the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and from Fairford air base in Britain. Other B-2s flew roundtrip missions from Whiteman.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rumsfeld says some Iraqi leaders have fled to Iraq
ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer Sunday, April 13, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(04-13) 07:23 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday "there's no question" that some senior Iraqi leaders have fled to Syria.
Some have remained in Syria, while others have moved on to different countries, Rumsfeld said. He declined to identify the Iraqis or the other countries, or if the United States was prepared to take any punitive action against Syria.
Rumsfeld also said that Syrians accounted for the largest share of foreign fighters that U.S. troops have faced in Baghdad over the past 24 hours.
Syria's deputy ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, who followed Rumsfeld on NBC's "Meet the Press," denied that his country was harboring escaped Iraqis. He said it was the responsibility of U.S. troops to monitor Iraq's western border with Syria.
Rumsfeld said he did not have solid evidence about the fate of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but "that regime is history forever... He either is dead or he is going to be caught; we'll find him, the world will find him."
On Saturday, Vice Adm. Timothy Keating, the commander of all naval forces in the war, said two or three of the five U.S. aircraft carriers launching planes on missions over Iraq may head home soon. Each carrier has about 80 planes aboard, including about 50 strike aircraft.
While the air campaign is far from over, its focus has shifted away from heavy bombing toward protective air cover for ground troops around Baghdad and in northern Iraq.
Surveillance and reconnaissance missions by U-2 spy planes, unmanned Predator drones and other aircraft are continuing apace, and aerial refueling and cargo planes are still very busy.
Keating said the USS Kitty Hawk, which has operated in the Persian Gulf since February, probably would be the first to leave. Its home port is Yokosuka, Japan.
The USS Constellation, also in the Gulf and on its final active deployment, probably would go next, he said.
Keating said orders to send carriers and other forces home would have to come from Gen. Tommy Franks, the war's overall commander, and that no such orders have been received.
The Air Force already has sent four B-2 stealth bombers back home to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., officials said. They were flying missions over Iraq from the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and from Fairford air base in Britain. Other B-2s flew roundtrip missions from Whiteman.